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In an interview with Jeremy Stephens the other day he stated that Hermes Franca was going to fight in February. It looks like Stephens was correct and it look like he will be fighting TUF 5 alum Joe Lauzon. This should be a very interesting fight. Both guys are top tens in the UFC divison…or close to it. Both guys are serious contenders. Both guys are coming off of wins. Lauzon comes fof a win over Kyle Bradley and Franca comes off of a win against Marcus Aurelio. The winner of this fight will be considered an upper eshalon UFC lightweight.

Lauzon is my earlier favorite to win this one, but it certainly can be a tough fight with a couple of tough fighters.

UFC Fight Night 17 will be held on February 7 and will feature bouts between TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig and Josh Neer as well as TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah taking on Nick Catone. I look for all 3 of these fights to make the televised card with a event yet to be named to be tapped for the main event.

A lightweight fight between contenders Hermes Franca and Gleison Tibau is in the works for UFC 90. UFC 90 will take place on October 25. Both Franca and Tibau are coming off of losses in their last fights. Franca dropped a decision loss to Frank Edgar and Tibau lost to Joe Stevenson, but looked very impressive. This should be a solid and exciting fight to add to the card.

These suspensions are precautionary more than anything and many times the fighters will be cleared to fight earlier with doctor’s approval. Looks like at this event the winners took the bigger punishment. Velasquez, Credeur and Blackburn especially. Looks like Anderson Silva came out healthy and may be ready to go in September.

James Irvin — Suspended until Sept. 3 with no contact until Aug. 19 due to a right-cheek laceration

Hermes Franca — Suspended until Aug. 19 with no contact until Aug. 10 for precautionary reasons

Frankie Edgar — Suspended until Aug. 19 with no contact until Aug. 10 due to a chin laceration

Jake O’Brien — Suspended until Sept. 3 with no contact until Aug. 19 for precautionary reasons

Cain Velasquez — Suspended until Jan. 7 due to possible meniscal/ligament tear in left knee (can be cleared early by an orthopedic doctor); minimum suspension until Aug. 19 with no contact until Aug. 10 for precautionary reasons

Anthony Johnson — Suspended indefinitely due to a conjunctival laceration in right eye (can be cleared by an ophthalmologist); minimum suspension until Aug. 19 with no contact until Aug. 10 for precautionary reasons

Tim Credeur — Suspended until Jan. 17 due to a right-knee injury (can be cleared early by orthopedic doctor); minimum suspension until Aug. 19 with no contact until Aug. 10 for precautionary reasons

Cale Yabrough — Suspended until Sept. 13 with no contact until Aug. 19 for precautionary reasons

Brodie Farber — Suspended until Sept. 18 with no contact until Sept. 3 for precautionary reasons

Rory Markham — Suspended until Aug. 19 with no contact until Aug. 10 for precautionary reasons

Nate Loughran — Suspended until Sept. 13 with no contact until Aug. 19 due to multiple lacerations

James Giboo — Suspended until Sept. 13 with no contact until Aug. 19 for precautionary reasons

Brad Blackburn — Suspended until Jan. 7 due to broken left thumb (can be cleared by orthopedic doctor)

Anderson Silva is awesome! If there were ever any doubters he silenced them. Some people thought that Anderson would have a hard time with the size, but he didn’t look like he gave up much size. Some people thought he may not want to strike with Irvin, he did and he beat him badly. Irvin was out of his league in this fight. Anderson looked awesome! Wow. I hope he fights some more at 205 because the Cote fight isn’t what I want to see.

Congrats to Brandon Vera for winning one. I think the move to 205 was good, but he did look tired. Thats okay the weight cut is tough and many guys have a hard time with the weight cut the first time. Mike Swick looked poor in his win in his first 170 fight, but looked better the second time. Vera will be a force at 205 and is right in the mix.

Frank Edgar impressed me. I thought Franca would win this one. Edgar looked much better than he did against Maynard. He dominated Franca.

The other guy I was impressed with was Cain Velasquez. Could it be a heavyweight star was born? He looked awesome. I buy the hype. I am on the Cain train. He could hold the title before too long.

I hated to see the Burns/Johnson fight end the way it did. I don’t know about the call, but whatever. I don’t think Burns was poking on purpose, but he was warned. Regardless of the deicsion Burns is a tough dude. I gained tons of respect for Johnson too, he is a top notch human being. How about him telling the crwods not to boo Burns? He is a stand up guy.

C.B. Dolloway did great, he showed his talent. He is always capable of winning. Some of the hype surrounding him was lost due to his losses to Amir. You can’t take anything away from Amir, but C.B. was beating him up both times they fought before he got caught. The point is that C.B. can hang with anyone at 185. I was also glad to see Jesse Taylor back, and hope he gets one more shot at least. By the way, I loved that Peruvian necktie. What a submission!

Welcome to the UFC Rory Markham. That KO was highlight material. I don’t know who to give KO of the night to, but I think this was a better KO than Silva’s KO. Ouch.

I will be interested to see who the UFC keeps and who they cut from this card. The guys on the chopping block:

– Reese Andy – Give him one more shot. He didn’t look great, but you can’t cut a guy for losing to one of the best.

– Jake O’Brien – I was against him being cut the first time, and I think he deserves one more shot, but he can’t hang with the top guys in the UFC heavyweight divison.

– Brodie Farber – Don’t forget he was winning the fight. I guess close doesn’t count, but I think he is a good prospect who lost to a veteran fighter.

– James Giboo – Cut him.

– Cale Yarbrough – Cut him. He can’t hack it and I never thought he could.

– Johnny Rees – Give him one more fight.

– Dale Hartt

KO of the Night: Rory Markham

Submission of the Night: C.B. Dolloway

Fight of the Night: Frank Edgar vs. Hermes Franca (Not the most exciting, but it went long and there was action)

I am looking forward to this fight. When I make my predictions I will look at all aspects of the game and some to a decision. Sometimes I will even pick an upset, but there are several fighters that I cannot pick against right now. Anderson Silva is one of those guys I cannot pick against right now, the others being B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre, and Fedor Emelianenko. I might miss a pick every now and then with that startegy, but more often than not I am right. I know Anderson will eventually lose a fight, but I will not pick against him anytime soon. James Irvin is good and he has knockout power. He could KO Anderson Silva. However, Irvin has never been a top 10 light heavyweight. He is fighting the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. The blogegrs and fans along with the media will try to hype this fight and give Irvin a bigger chance to win, in then end Anderson is going to beat him. I do not know how much can be said. I pick Anderson Silva by TKO in round 2.

Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy

Brandon Vera beat some good guys at heavyweight, however he was small for a heavyweight. I believe Vera can bang with anyone. Reese Andy is not known to a lot of MMA fans, but he was a former IFL fighter who hasn’t fought in a year. Andy has a decent record and I have heard he is pretty good, but he hasn’t beaten anyone. Vera will be by far the best guy he has ever fought. I believe Vera will be fast and strong at 205 and will win by KO in round 1. Welcome to light heavyweight Brandon Vera.

Frankie Edgar vs. Hermes Franca

Both these guys are good fighters. Edgar has climbed the ladder at 155, but dropped off a bit following his loss to Gray Maynard. Many people are forgetting that Hermes Franca was the number one contender and fought for the title against Sean Sherk before his failed drug test. Franca is strong and aggressive. Bioth guys have wrestling skills. Edgar can win, but he needs to be more aggresive. I pick Franca to win by unanimous decision.

Jake O’Brien vs. Cain Velasquez

I am glad the UFC brough back Jake O’Brien and I hope he gets another chance after this fight. O’Brien has done well in the UFC his only loss coming to Arlovski. However, I think Jake O’Brien’s strength is wrestling. Cain Velasquez will be able to neutralize that. From what I am hearing Cain is the real deal. I buy the hype. People say that Cain has great Jiu Jitsu and great stand up. People are hailing him as the future of the heavyweight divison. I will pick Cain Velasquez to win by TKO in round 1.

Kevin Burns vs. Anthony Johnson

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is looking to make an impression. His KO of Tommy Speer in his last outing was incredible. Kevin Burns looked good against Road Carneiro and pulled off the submission win. I think Burns will want to take this fight down. Johnson is big and strong and can strike with power. I don’t see Burns being able to get the take down. He will be forced to strike with Johnson and it won’t work well. Anthony Johnson wins by TKO in round 3.

C.B. Dollaway vs. Jesse Taylor

C.B. the odds on favorite to win TUF 7, but lost twice to Amir. Jesse taylor made it to the finals before being kicked off following his drunken rampage. This fight is interesting. It is the TUF 7 cast off versus the guy who replaced him. This fight is huge for both guys. I don’t know if it is a winner go home fight, but C.B. needs a win something bad. Jesse is big and strong and has something to prove. C.B. is well rounded (except submission defense). I think that Jesse is stronger and bigger, but C.B. is the better striker from what I saw on TUF. C.B. has better ground and pound, but Jesse does have good ground and pound. They are similar in style. They both probably are more comfortable on the ground. I believe C.B. may stand this fight at first and see how it goes. I think C.B. wins in round 2 by rear naked choke.

Tim Credeur vs. Cale Yarbrough

Cale showed nothing on the show. I am bothered by this a little. Let me vent. I believe TUF 7 only had a few guys with real potenital and talent to make it in the UFC. The UFC didn’t bring back many guys to the finale. Why did they bring back Cale? Cale is a vegetable, isn’t it? I thought Gerald Harris is the guy that got cheated most, he deserves one shot in the UFC. With that said, Tim is too experienced and too good for Cale. Cale can knock him out if that stand, but Tim will take Cale down and soften him up and then submit him with a choke, in round 1.